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State College couple creates trustee scholarship at Penn State Altoona

October 15, 2013

State College couple creates trustee scholarship at Penn State Altoona

David A. and Sandra Gutshall Kline of State College, Pa., have made a gift commitment to Penn State Altoona to create the Sandra Gutshall Kline Trustee Scholarship. In recognition of the gift, the Klines, who earned bachelor’s degrees in education from Penn State in 1964, will be inducted next fall into the campus’s Ivyside Society. The society was established in 1987 to honor those who, through their philanthropic support and leadership, share a commitment to the continuing excellence of Penn State Altoona.

“All of us in our extended Penn State Altoona family appreciate the generosity of David and Sandra Gutshall Kline,” said Chancellor and Dean Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry. “We are delighted that they created a Trustee Scholarship to support our students. Often times a scholarship such as this is the critical difference in allowing a student to continue her or his education. I offer our heartfelt thanks to David and Sandra for their beneficence.”

Sandy Kline was a recipient of the Minnie Patton Stayman Scholarship throughout her four years as a Penn State undergraduate. She said the impact of the scholarship on her family’s ability to pay for her college education factored prominently into the Klines’ decision to create their Trustee Scholarship.

“Because of the influence the Minnie Patton Stayman Scholarship had on my educational career, my desire is to ease the financial burden on other qualified students as they pursue their education in the Penn State tradition,” said Kline.

David Kline said, “I hope this scholarship influences young people to continue their college education and to give back to those who follow.”

An Altoona native, Sandy Kline began her undergraduate studies at Penn State Altoona. After receiving her degree in secondary education with a biology minor, she later earned a master’s degree in counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pa., and a counseling certificate from Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation in Glenside, Pa. Kline taught at Roosevelt Junior High School in Altoona, Pocono Mountain Middle School, and American military dependents’ schools in Germany, Texas, and North Carolina. She also taught English as a second language for the American Embassy in Pusan, South Korea.

A native of Evans City, Pa, David Kline retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Army in 1987, after a 22-year career. A Vietnam War veteran, he was an airborne adviser in Cambodia. As a student at the University Park campus, Kline was a member of Penn State ROTC, the varsity rifle team, and Sigma Chi fraternity. He has been the fraternity’s adviser since 2001. Kline earned a master’s degree in educational administration from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan, and a master’s degree in computer resources management from Webster University, in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Klines owned and managed Hillside Lodge and Resort in the Poconos for 14 years. After selling the property in 2001, they moved to State College where Sandy Kline operates a private counseling practice and David Kline owns and manages Orchard Park Rentals, a residential real estate company.

All three of the Klines’ children— Major David Cory Kline of Ringoes, N.J.; Gregory Kline of Gambrills, Md.; and LeAnne Kline Christiansen of Aalborg, Denmark — are Penn State graduates. The oldest of the couple’s six grandchildren — Brittany Kline —i s a first-year student at Penn State Altoona.

The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program maximizes the impact of private giving while directing funds to students as quickly as possible, meeting the urgent need for scholarship support. For Trustee Scholarships created through the end of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students on June 30, 2014, Penn State will provide an annual 10 percent match of the total pledge or gift. This level is an increase from the program’s original match of 5 percent, and it is available only for new endowments of $50,000 or more. The University match, which is approximately double the endowment’s annual spendable income, continues in perpetuity, multiplying the support available for students with financial need.

The gift from the Klines will help Penn State Altoona to reach the goals of For the Future. This University-wide effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America. The University is engaging Penn State’s alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University’s tradition of quality. The campaign’s top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families.

The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State’s history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by 2014. Penn State Altoona’s goal is $20 million.